The present invention relates generally to hoisting systems that can travel over the rails of a ladder and, more particularly, to a ladder bridge apparatus for connecting two ladder sections. In a typical application, one ladder section will be set up on the ground surface and the other ladder section will be positioned on the roof of a building. The connection device can be utilized to provide a bridge between the two ladder sections to transport material, for example, over the roof eave to the roof surface.
Extreme difficulty is often encountered in lifting heavy objects to the top of a house, up and over the roof eave to the roof. This can be accomplished with a crane, but the expense of using a crane is often prohibitive. In addition, it would be difficult and expensive to transport a large piece of equipment such as a crane to a job site. Often there are cramped quarters around the jobsite and there is simply not enough room for large equipment.
Other portable equipment may be utilized but often cause damage to the roof gutters. To overcome these obstacles, the ladder bridge apparatus may be used in conjunction with a transport mechanism to lift materials from the ground to the roof eave and beyond or to transport materials from point A to point B.
A typical transport mechanism that this ladder bridge apparatus can be used in conjunction with is generally described in. U.S. Pat. No. 8,002,512 issued to Blehm in 2011. Other transport mechanisms could be utilized with the ladder bridge apparatus and the scope of the material transport mechanism is not specified herein.
There is a need for an apparatus that can be easily attached to a multi-section ladder and used to move materials from point A to point B. In particular there is a need for an apparatus that can be attached to ladder sections to lift loads over the eave of a roof of a building without damaging the gutters. The portability of such an apparatus is important so that it can be transported by one person to and from a jobsite easily and can also be affixed to and removed from a ladder by a worker with a minimum of effort.